Vegan with a Vengeance

dashes fresh black pepper
    Â¼ cup chopped fresh parsley
    1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
    Juice of 1 lemon
    Â¾ cups plain bread crumbs
    Preheat oven to 375°F.
    Toast the walnuts: Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Place the walnuts in the pan and toast for 3 minutes, turning frequently. Remove from heat and let cool. Chop coarsely and set aside.
    Remove the stems from the mushrooms. Set the stems aside. Place the mushrooms in a lightly greased baking pan, stem side down, and bake for 10 minutes. Remove from oven. When cool enough, drain the liquid that was released by the mushrooms. While they are cooling, prepare the stuffing.
    Finely chop the mushroom stems. Heat a large skillet over medium-high. Sauté the stems and seitan in the olive oil for about 5 minutes. Add the onion, garlic, dried spices, and salt and pepper, and sauté for 5 more minutes. Add the parsley,
lemon zest, and lemon juice, and mix well. Cook for 3 more minutes. In a large bowl, combine the vegetable mixture, bread crumbs, and toasted walnuts. Use your hands to mix well. If mixture is too dry, add the reserved mushroom cooking liquid by the tablespoonful until the mixture holds together when pinched.
    Mound the filling into the mushroom caps, gently pressing it in. Bake filling side up on a baking pan for 20 minutes.

Black-eyed Pea and Quinoa Croquettes with Mushroom Sauce
    MAKES 16 CROQUETTES
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    Quinoa is hands-down my favorite grain (even if it isn’t technically a grain). Since it is a prerequisite for every vegetarian cookbook to tell you this, you probably know it is a complete protein. All too often it’s made into a salad or thrown willy-nilly under a stir-fry. I wanted to give it the treatment in the form of these cute, savory croquettes. Serve with extra quinoa and Mushroom Sauce.
    1½ cups cooked black-eyed peas, drained, or 1 (15-ounce) can, drained and rinsed
    1 tablespoon olive oil
    1 tablespoon soy sauce
    1 cup cooked quinoa, at room temperature
    Â½ teaspoon dried thyme, crumbled
    Â½ teaspoon dried basil, crumbled
    1 teaspoon paprika
    FOR THE BREAD CRUMB COATING:
    Â½ cup bread crumbs (I prefer whole wheat)
    â…› teaspoon salt
    A few dashes fresh black pepper
    Â½ teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
    2 teaspoons olive oil
    Preheat the oven to 350°F.
    In a mixing bowl mash the black-eyed peas with a potato masher and then with your hands. Add the olive oil and soy sauce and stir. Add the quinoa and spices and combine the mixture with your hands. You should be able to mold them into balls that readily stick together.
    In a small bowl mix together all the ingredients for the breading. Spray a baking pan with a little oil. Form the croquettes into walnut-sized ball. Gently roll the balls between your palms three or four times, then flatten out the ends so that the croquettes resemble marshmallows. Coat each ball with the bread crumbs and place on the prepared baking sheet. When all the croquettes have been formed, spray lightly with oil. Bake for 40 minutes, turning once after 20 minutes.

    I serve these by putting some cooked quinoa into the center of the plate, then putting four croquettes around the quinoa, then putting a healthy dose of mushroom sauce on the quinoa. Don’t pour the sauce directly on the croquettes or they will get mushy.
    Fizzle says:
    1 cup of quinoa contains more calcium than a quart of milk.
Mushroom Sauce
    This makes a great pasta sauce as well, to make it more of a gravy add ¼ cup flour to the broth and arrowroot mixture.
    3 cups vegetable broth
    2 tablespoons arrowroot powder
    1 tablespoon olive oil
    1 small onion, finely chopped
    2 cloves garlic, minced
    2 cups crimini mushrooms, thinly sliced
    1 teaspoon dried thyme
    1 teaspoon salt
    a few dashes fresh black pepper
    Â½ cup white cooking wine
    3 tablespoons soy sauce
    Â¼ cup nutritional yeast flakes
    Â¼ cup plain soy milk
    In a small bowl whisk the arrowroot into vegetable broth until dissolved. Set aside.
    In a medium sauce pan sauté the onions and garlic in the olive oil for 3 minutes. Add the mushrooms, thyme, salt and pepper and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the white wine and turn the heat up high to bring to a boil for 3 minutes. Add the soy sauce and the broth/arrowroot mixture. Bring to a boil and then lower heat and simmer for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the nutritional yeast and whisk until dissolved. Add the soy milk and whisk for another minute or so. Let cool